CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

According to Zacks, “CF Industries saw lower profits in the second quarter of 2017. Adjusted earnings, however, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues fell modestly year over year, but beat expectations. CF Industries is well placed to gain from its efforts to boost production capacity. It should also benefit from higher nitrogen demand driven by healthy corn plantations. The company's nitrogen business is also enjoying the benefit of abundant natural gas supply. However, CF Industries has underperformed the industry it belongs to for the past six months. CF Industries anticipates the challenging nitrogen pricing environment to continue through 2017. High supply levels in the global nitrogen market due to capacity additions are hurting prices. The company is also exposed to challenging agriculture market fundamentals. Moreover, CF Industries has a debt-laden balance sheet.”

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A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on CF. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on CF Industries Holdings from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Credit Suisse Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of CF Industries Holdings in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Barclays PLC restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of CF Industries Holdings in a research note on Saturday, April 22nd. Cowen and Company set a $30.00 target price on CF Industries Holdings and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, UBS AG upgraded CF Industries Holdings from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.58.

CF Industries Holdings (NYSE:CF) traded down 0.016% on Wednesday, hitting $30.295. The stock had a trading volume of 814,146 shares. CF Industries Holdings has a 52-week low of $22.00 and a 52-week high of $37.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.50. The firm’s market cap is $7.07 billion.

CF Industries Holdings (NYSE:CF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.18. CF Industries Holdings had a negative return on equity of 0.40% and a negative net margin of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings will post ($0.70) earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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In other news, VP Bert A. Frost sold 6,400 shares of CF Industries Holdings stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total transaction of $201,792.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 59,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,883,349.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings by 3,912.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,034,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $587,999,000 after buying an additional 19,534,765 shares during the last quarter. KCG Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings during the first quarter worth about $1,150,000. Raging Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings during the first quarter worth about $8,115,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings by 34.5% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CF Industries Holdings during the first quarter worth about $838,000.